MANILA - At least P4.2 billion is needed annually to implement the updated Philippine Coffee Industry Road Map, which targets to boost the country’s coffee self-sufficiency to 47 percent by 2027.

According to the Department of Agriculture, as of December 2020, the Philippines was only producing 15 percent of the country’s coffee requirements.

DA-High Value Crops Project Development Officer IV Enrique dela Cruz told the House Committee on Agriculture and Food that the additional funding will be used to provide seedlings, fertilizers and training to coffee farmers associations and cooperatives.

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He said their budget to assist coffee farmers in the country for the development of the industry is a “measly” P80 million this year.

The agency proposed a budget of P600 million for next year, but only P84 million was approved by the Department of Budget and Management, according to DA-HVCDP’s Atty. Joycel Panlilio.

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Nestle Philippines Vice President Ruth Novales observed that there are parts of the value chain in local coffee production that are sufficiently funded, resulting in a lower yield of around 0.3 kilos per coffee tree, instead of at least 1.5 to 2 kilos.

Proper support includes planting materials, soil enrichments, and post-harvest facilities.

“At the end of the period for roadmap, which is 2027, the target sufficiency is about 47 percent, it will move upward if we achieve that,” Dela Cruz said.

“The roadmap, just for this year, 2023, requires for implementation P4.2 billion just for this year and it goes to area expansion expenses, seedlings, fertilization both organic and synthetic and training, mechanization and processing centers,” he added.

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“One of the weaknesses of our Philippine coffee sector is we are so fractious. Many farmers are not in organizations. One of the things we need, to implement the programs in the road map is to really consolidate and cluster the farmers to achieve economies of scale, and therefore we can also introduce mechanization, which we cannot do now, because we cannot give machines to individual farmers,” dela Cruz noted.

The House panel tackled on Monday the bills seeking to establish a national program for the coffee industry and provide funds for this. The deliberations were suspended, pending the submission of documents requested by lawmakers.

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